Heretofore, certain alkenyl succinic anhydrides have been developed for use as paper sizing agents. If the ultimate treated paper is for indirect food usage, regulations in the United States require that 95 wt % of the olefins used in forming the alkenyl succinic anhydride must be in the C.sub.16 to C.sub.20 range. One typical commercial product sold for such use is an alkenyl succinic anhydride in which the alkenyl group is derived from a mixture of internal olefins composed on a weight basis of approximately 4% C.sub.14, 50% C.sub.16, 45.5% C.sub.18, and 0.5% C.sub.20 olefins. This olefin mixture is also used as a component of certain drilling fluids. Another commercially used mixture of alkenyl succinic anhydrides is formed from an internal olefin mixture consisting essentially of C.sub.16 and C.sub.18 olefins.
Various other alkenyl succinic anhydrides have been proposed for use as paper sizing agents. See, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,102,064; 3,821,069; 4,431,826; 4,576,680; 5,114,538; and 5,246,491; EP published application 0 169 250 A1; and Japan Kokai 57-154495.
Commercial processes for producing olefins typically produce a range of olefins of differing molecular weights. Use of distillation enables the resultant gross mixtures of olefins to be divided into various carbon number fractions to thereby provide olefins for specified end use applications. Typically C.sub.6 and C.sub.8 olefins find commercial application as comonomers in the manufacture of olefin polymers. C.sub.8 and C.sub.10 olefins are used in the production of synthetic lubricants, while C.sub.12 olefins are very useful in the manufacture of synthetic household detergents and surface active agents. And as noted above, olefin mixtures highly enriched in C.sub.16 and C.sub.18 olefins are of commercial utility as raw materials for the synthesis of paper sizing agents and as components of drilling fluids.
It would be of considerable benefit if new, useful olefin mixtures could be developed that would make possible more efficient utilization of olefins for which relatively small utilities currently exist. If this could be accomplished, current market demands for olefins could continue to be efficiently served by present and projected manufacturing facilities while at the same time making more efficient use of hydrocarbon feedstocks to such facilities and product outputs from such facilities.
This invention is deemed to make possible the fulfillment of the foregoing objective.